Episode One/c - Trinity

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   I have another plan if Jonathan's attempt fails

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you," says Rachel as Magsworthy hurries off. "We'll need a word with you later, when you're no longer busy." She nods to Lord Roxborough. "Let's go join the others." She leads the way to the porter's office.

OOC,Didn't [b]Nellie[/b] succeed? It was a DF of 3, and there were three successes.

[Priest]

OOC,Didn't Nellie succeed? It was a DF of 3, and there were three successes.

OOC:   She did, it is the number of successes that controls the quality of the successes. She had 3 successes which make a 'minor success (0+)', it is then up to the character to decide if the information recieved is of use. Hence, "the more successes the better"

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   I think we're waiting for the outcome of Jonathan's attempt at intimidation....

[Priest]

Jonathan –

OOC:   Firstly apologies I completely missed your post. My bad.

The Scotsman shudders slightly but remains tight lipped. It appears that he would rather face death than reveal anything else.


Like Nellie you have no Intimidation skill. However I will allow you to use Investigation -2 with a +2 for your robust use of threat. This gives you 5dice versus a df3 (average 2+). Sadly you have no Style Points, Therefore the best you could achieve is 3 successes (the same as Nellie’s earlier attempt).

Without any warning the door to the porter’s office swings open to reveal Mrs Steele accompanied by the famous hunter Lord Roxborough. Now all four of you are reunited within the warm confines of the porter;s office, along with a rather distresses looking prisoner.

[carnage_lee]

"Oh there you are" Nellie chirps as the other pair of investigators arrives, "Jonathan, hold the fort for a minute or two, if you would be so kind. You two, come with me." Leading Roxy and Rachel back out of the office, closing the door and in low tones explains what had transpired.

".. and so the villain remains tight lipped; apart from his very cryptic 'it will all be over in a few days' comment. I don't think there's a lot of time to apply more pressure before the police arrive. So I propose a little ruse.."

OOC:   Nellie proposes that they stop trying to get any info... and instead inform the constable (or who ever arrives to take custody) and in full hearing of the group congregating outside that the prisoner has been very helpful and has agreed to give a full confession to Inspector {can't remember the name of the Inspector from the previous game} of Scotland Yard, who will be coming up in the morning... then we stake out the police station on the basis that the Scotsman's 'friends' will come to break him out or silence him. Nellie will whisper the plan to Jonathan (if agreed) once the trio re-enter the office.

OOC:   The Inspector, was of course, Inspector Nettles.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, an excellent plan," Rachel whispers back, "but I have something I'd like to try first. We can bluff and claim that Professor Choker is being interrogated, and that he is putting all the blame on MacPherson to save himself. Hopefully that will get a reaction from him and get him to blame Choker as the real mastermind, plus he'll distrust Choker's agents when they come for him. I'm hoping we can convince him that he'll never prevail with his word against a professor, and that the only way he can prove his innocence is to produce another witness - like Edward Ponsonby. Then he might tell us where he took him in his cab two days ago."

OOC,He'd only have a maximum of three successes if he takes the average. If he rolls, there's a small chance he'll get four or five.

[Priest]

OOC:   Excellent point Mr H, as you say Jonathan might make a potential 5 successes if he rolls. If he chooses too then roll away

OOC:   Rachel and Nellie – Good plan worth a try. For such a clever plan I will award Rachel and Nellie a Style Point, which you may combine help gain successes. So for example if Nellie uses her Con (3) + her Attractive Talent bonus +1 and adds the shared Style points +2 she will have 6 dice, plus any of her own Style points she spends, on the success of the plan. You can also get Rachel, Peter, and Jonathan to add style points if they have them However, you might like to await the outcome of Jonathan’s roll, should he choose to make one. Sharing Style Points (Pg104) Style points always belong to the player character that earned them. They may never be given away or traded to another character. However, you may spend Style points on behalf of another character, such as an Ally or Follower. Your character must do something to explain the expenditure, such as say a few words of encouragement or give the recipient helping hand. A shove or shouted warning are often enough to give another character some bonus dice on her Defense roll, for example.

[jaysun81]

After Nellie walks out with their two other companions, Jonathan smiles at the prisoner and squeezes the man's shoulder a bit more before saying, "Last chance."

OOC:   My apologies for the delay gang. [dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,NIcely done! [b]Nellie[/b] actually has Con at 6, so she'd get 7 dice even without Style points. Also, I vaguely remember seeing a rule about assisting someone. I think someone with the skill at 4 or higher ([b]Rachel[/b] has it at 5) can help out for one or more bonus dice without even spending Style points.

[Priest]

Jonathan –

OOC:   The fault was all mine, first I missed your post, and then assumed you would fail the roll...Rule 1: Never assume!

Despite the obvious pain, which causes his brow to furrow, his eyes to water, and his breathing to become short gasps, the Scotsman, possibly showing more bravado than sense, grits his teeth and snarls,
“They’ll get me off, ye’ll see! Soon I’ll have friends in high places—the highest places of all!”
Four successes versus df3 = simple success +1. Nice!

Although you see him wince with the pain you are inflicting, it is apparent that he does not believe your talk of Japanese death grips, although in the midst of a defiant smile he does pass out.

Nellie, Rachel and Peter –

The three of you re-enter the room just before the Scotsman passes out, possibly from the strange pinching technique that Jonathan has applied to his shoulder. As you entered you had heard the words spoken.
“They’ll get me off, ye’ll see! Soon I’ll have friends in high places—the highest places of all!”

OOC:   As M H says; Teamwork (pg32) In some situations, characters may work together to complete a project. Each character must have an applicable Skill rating of 4 or higher. The character with the highest Skill rating makes the roll with +2 bonus dice for each person assisting him (maximum of +10 bonus dice). If three characters are trying to fix a damaged steam engine, and your character has Mechanics 5 and the other two characters have Mechanics 4, you would roll 9 dice for your Skill roll (5 dice for your Mechanics rating with +4 dice for your two assistants).

[jaysun81]

As his friends walk back into the room Jonathan releases his grip on the man's shoulder and says, "Don't worry... contrary to what I told him I didn't hurt him." He then steps back and quietly grunts from the pain in his arm as he pulls out his pipe. Without thought he begins to clean out the bowl while saying, "The Scot said he has friends in high places who will help him. Wonder who that could be?" After posing the question Jonathan refills the pipe in preparation for a nice smoke. As he surveys his associates he strikes a match and proceeds to light the freshly packed tobacco pipe.

[Mr. Handy]

"Actually, what he said was that soon he'd have friends in the highest of places," says Rachel, "implying that they aren't in those places yet. That can only mean that his 'friends' intend to take control of the British Empire! There is no greater power on Earth than that. It seems we've stumbled upon a vast conspiracy, and we have little time in which to unravel it. However, Nellie and I have some ideas for how we can get him to talk and progress further." She whispers their ideas into Jonathan's ear in case their prisoner is only shamming - that's what she would have done in his place. "See if you can wake him up."

[jaysun81]

"Ah yes, quite right... so I misheard. Good ear Mrs. Steele." Jonathan puffs on his pipe as Rachel shares the idea with him. Once she finishes he walks back over to the Scotsman. Clenching the pipe in his teeth he visually looks the man over. As he does he reaches out to check the thug's pulse, listen to his breathing, and even touches his flesh seeing if it's hot, cool, or clammy. Jonathan does all this in an attempt to ascertain not only if the man is faking his unconsciousness, but what caused him to pass out if he truly did. After a moment - assuming the man doesn't stir - Jonathan slaps the fellow squarely on the cheek with the back of his right hand.

OOC:   Medicine (First Aid): 5 [dice]0[/dice]

[Priest]

Jonathan –

Using your knowledge of medicine, it takes but a cursory examination of a few moments to ascertain that the Scotsman has simply fainted. A quick slap of his face soon brings him to consciousness.
“Swine, ye’ll pay for that” he spits, the hatred obvious from his tone, “Mhà thu a 'lobhadh ann an ifrinn!!” . Whatever he said you guess it wasn’t polite, Lord Roxborough nods and grins as if in understanding.

Rachel, Nellie and Peter –

Before either of the ladies can reach into their bags for smelling salts, Jonathan has the Scotsman awake and snarling. He gazes towards you in contempt, “Och, maybe the wee lassies can succeed where you men cannot”...

[Mr. Handy]

"Says the man who fainted," says Rachel. "Your so-called friends have deserted you, Mr. MacPherson. Right now Professor Choker is being questioned, and he has identified and accused you in an effort to save himself." She steps aside to let Nellie take the lead.

OOC,I'll be assisting [b]Nellie[/b] on her Con roll, so she gets two extra dice for my help, plus I'll also contribute a Style point. That gives her 10 dice right now, which means we can take the average and get five successes. We might want to add in a couple more Style points to make it an even dozen, so we can get six successes automatically. I think I recall there being some special benefit for beating the DF by 3.

[Priest]

Mr H,I think you are referring to degrees of success. In this case the more successes the more information that may be forthcoming (pg102). In other actions, such as combat or physical actions, the greater the number of successes the better the result, for example instead of a hit from being shot the enemy gets his arm blown off, a character leaping across a yawning chasm doesn’t simply make it he/she lands, rolls and leaps to their feet ready for action.

[/color]

Rachel -

Rachel’s words seem to produce an electrical effect on the Scotsman. For a moment the defiant look in his eye is replaced by one of confusion and fear,
“I dinnae ken. What do ye mean?”

[carnage_lee]

Nellie steps forward, smiling as she hears the Scotsman's words, hoping that they had finally found the key to reversing his resolute silence.

"Oh, it is quite simple, a certain type of 'gentleman' will always seek to blame others and weasel his way out of taking the punishment that they deserve.. saving their own skin .. or rather saving themselves from a short drop." with that Nellie pantomimes being hung by the neck, head lolling to one side, tongue out and eyes wide. "Your only hope now is to come clean, you know that his type cannot be trusted I bet he does not 'get his hands dirty' .." Nellie does not specify who 'his type' refers too, she needs to lay it on thick and fast, sowing doubt is the only way to get information now. "Face facts, the game is up and your 'comrades' are leaving you to take the blame; with their fancy words and 'connections'... you've been dropped right in it! You my friend are what is known as expendable."

Nellie puts on a sad face "Such a shame, I don't suppose there is anything you could tell us to save yourself, not after he finishes 'spilling his guts' to Inspector Nettles." Nellie cocks an eyebrow, inviting comment.

OOC:   I'll spend a style point ... would be helpful if 'Roxy' would too 'standing menacingly... harrumphing etc. (getting 12 dice and taking the average). I still think we can 'lure them out' by loudly telling the police that come to take the Scotsman away that "Oh yes.. he's been quite helpful, I am sure that Inspector Nettles will get to the bottom of things when he arrives in the morning.."

[Priest]

Nellie (et al) –

As Nellie unleashes her words, smiling coquettishly all the while, the Scotsman’s eyes widen at first with surprise then with a dawning sense of horror. The next few seconds are filled with strange inarticulate sounds, most of which seem to be coming from the prisoner but some from the stomach of his Lordship.

It would appear that Nellie’s words have had the desired effect as the Scotsman, with an almost pleading look in his eye, says, “Are they now, willing to sacrifice Rab are they? No doubt for the common good. Well we shall see about that...Ask away lassie I’ll answer your questions”
3+ successes = Major Success

In the silence that follows the Scotsman’s words a small sound is heard from outside the office door, the creak of a floorboard perhaps...

[Mr. Handy]

"Will you gentlemen please carefully see who's at the door?" whispers Rachel to Peter and Jonathan. She then addresses MacPherson. "You can start by telling us where you took Edward Ponsonby in your brougham from the train station two days ago at five o'clock."